The local Yapese culture is fascinating. In other places, there is an attempt to con tourists into thinking that all of the fancy dress and dancing is what they do every day for some bizarre spiritual purpose. But in Yap, our elder host (Stan) wears prescription glasses and talks about World War II and the kids these days preferring rap to traditional song and dance.

Stan and others have formed a non-profit organization whose purpose is to preserve Yapese culture. Kids are taught what remains of local tradition by the few remaining elders who remember songs, dances, and basket-weaving techniques of the past. Stan mentions that many of the old ways have already been lost, since most of the Yapese were wiped out during World War II.

traditional bamboo-stick dance, kadai village, yap

this girl was the most enthusiastic

Kadai Village's main strip is lined with stone money. Jaxie for some reason knows their value: 1 kilo of gold per foot radius (I think that's what he said). Stone money is still worth real money here in Yap. We also approached the village via a long stone path lined with taro and other plants. The paths are constructed with large, irregular stones in the middle of them, forcing pedestrians to focus on walking rather than on spying on people nearby. "Yapese like privacy," we're told, "but you are our guests."